Growing Up Super
by AtLoLevad
Summary: A series of drabbles that show just what it's like to grow up with superhero parents in Avengers Tower. A part o my Liam'verse series.
1. Chapter 1

"Mommy?" Liam shouted from the couch.

Kit turned off the stand mixer in the kitchen and wiped her hands on a kitchen towel.

"Yes, monkey?"

Liam leaned over the edge of the couch, "Why's everyone so 'cited?"

Kit grinned, her eyes crinkling, "Today's a very special day, Liam."

"How come?" he stuck his thumb in his mouth. Kit frowned. The thumb sucking had been on the way out. But ever since they had told him about the incoming babies...

Kit made a mental note to discuss it with Steve.

"Mommyyyyy," Liam whined, "I said, how come it's a 'pecial day?"

Kit laughed, "Sorry, kid. It's special because Aunt Betty and Uncle Bruce are bringing your new cousin home."

"Oh," Liam flopped onto his back, "Am I gonna like him?"

Kit leaned over the back of the couch, "I hope you do. Do you promise to be a nice boy?"

Liam nodded, "Can he play heroes?"

"If you ask him, I'm sure he will," Kit crooked her finger at her son, "How about you come help me bake a cake?"

Liam eyes widened, "Yeah!"

He jumped up and scrambled off the couch, hitting his knee only once on the way into the kitchen.

* * *

Steve waited with Bruce and Betty in the adoption agency.

"Is this...did you feel like you were going to vomit before Liam came?" Bruce asked quietly.

Steve nodded, "For a solid twelve hours. And then he was coming, so I wasn't focused on me anymore."

"So this is normal?" Bruce asked, needing reassurance.

"Perfectly normal," Steve clapped his hand on Bruce's shoulder, "It'll all be fine."

Bruce nodded, "Thank you."

"What's family for?" Steve shrugged, smiling.

* * *

"Are they comin' yet?" Liam banged his heels against the counter, watching his mom frost the cake.

"Soon," Kit waved the spatula in the air, "Daddy texted a little bit ago and they were almost home."

"I wanna meet Nickel!" Liam sighed dramatically.

Kit giggled, and whipped out her phone, opening the camera, "What's your new cousin's name?"

Liam looked disgruntled as he repeated, "Nickel! I wanna meet Nickel!"

"You'll meet him soon," Kit reassured Liam, sending the video to all of the Avengers.

"How soon?" Liam asked.

"Go watch one episode of Sesame Street and then ask me again," Kit flipped on the TV and Liam sat to watch the colorful Muppets.

She had just bought herself an hour. Time to finish that cake.

* * *

Liam fell asleep just twenty minutes into Sesame Street.

Kit covered him with a blanket and kissed his forehead before getting back to frosting the cake.

She was putting the finishing touches on the decorations when she heard Liam start talking.

"Uncle Bucky and Daddy are gonna shoot you right down!"

Kit frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together, "Liam, sweetie?"

He let out a snore that sounded too big for his body.

Sleep-talking.

Kit shook her head, "What are you dreaming about, little man?"

Liam rolled over in his sleep, face mashed up against the back of the couch.

Kit's phone chimed with a message.

-about 15 mins away. All ready? -

-will be as soon as Sleeping Beauty wakes up-

-good luck mommy... see you soon-

Kit smiled and put her phone into her pocket.

"Liam?" She gently tapped her son's arm, shaking his body a little.

Liam grumbled, swatting at Kit's hand, "No, mommy."

"Daddy's almost home," Kit sing-songed, knowing the promise of Steve would get Liam excited.

And true to past precedent, Liam's eyes flew open and he shot up into a sitting position, almost clipping Kit in the chin.

"Daddy?" He questioned, looking around the apartment.

Kit laughed, "In a few minutes. Why don't you help me hang up this sign?"

Liam rolled off of the couch and helped Kit tack up a "Welcome to the Family, Michael!" sign.

Liam's side was hanging much lower than Kit's, but that just added to the appeal.

There was the sound of a key scratching in the lock and both Kit and Liam's heads whipped around.

"Daddy!" Liam shrieked, flinging his body at Steve's knees.

"Hey, partner," Steve grinned, kissing Liam's forehead.

"Where are my people?" Liam asked, looking over Steve's shoulder.

Betty poked her head through the doorway, "Can we come in?"

Kit grinned and waved her hands, "Of course! Come in, come in! We can't wait to meet Michael!"

Betty went back into the hall, and they could hear her whispering in a soothing tone.

Bruce stepped into the apartment next, six-year-old Michael gripping tightly to his pant leg.

Bruce rubbed his back, "This is Steve and Kit. They're kind of like your aunt and uncle. And Liam is close to your age."

Steve gently set Liam on the floor, and the four-year-old peered curiously at this new family member.

Michael and Liam entered a low stakes staring contest, neither one wanting to look away.

"Do you live with Aunt Betty and Uncle Bruce?" Liam asked, shifting from one foot to the other.

Michael looked up at Bruce, hand still gripping fabric tightly. Bruce nodded.

Michael turned back to Liam, "Uh-huh. They brought me from the old place I lived. Now Betty said I can call her "mom" and Bruce said I can call him "dad." I like them."

Liam smiled, "I call my mommy and daddy, "mommy" and "daddy." They're lots of fun. And so are my other grown-ups! 'Specially Uncle Bucky."

Michael looked a little less frightened the more Liam talked. His grip on Bruce's jeans went slack, and he stepped out from behind Bruce's leg.

"Do you like superheroes?" Liam asked, and upon Michael's nod, Liam grabbed his hand and dragged him to the couch.

"I got lotsa heroes 'cause Daddy and my grown-ups are heroes," Liam shoved the Hulk figure into Michael's hand and took the Hawkeye figure for himself.

Michael looked carefully at the green plastic in his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, he started giggling and playing along with the story Liam was coming up with.

Bruce looped an arm over Betty's shoulder.

"I think they're going to get along just fine," Kit said, leaning against Steve's side.

The four adults watched Liam and Michael play with the action figures.

"Let's see how he does when he meets everyone else," Bruce laughed.

Just then, Michael followed Liam up into the couch and jumped, falling over the back.

"I think he'll be okay," Steve muttered as they all rushed forward to make sure he was okay.

Liam tugged on Kit's sleeve, "Mikey got a booboo. Can we get ice cream?"

Michael looked up, eyes bright, "Ice cream?"

Betty laughed, "Ice cream. You'll be fine."

Liam looked at his new partner-in-crime and they both cheered, jumping up and sprinting for the front door.

Both couples shared a look before Kit said what they were all thinking.

"We're in for it."

* * *

**A/N: I'm back with more Avengers goodness. This is the first in a series of drabbles that will all take place within the Liam'verse. This also serves as your introduction to the first of many new Avengers kids. I'm going to strive to keep this in as chronological order as I can. **

**Please feel free to submit prompts of different drabbles that you'd like to see. They can either be sent in a PM here, or in an ask on my Tumblr (thewintersoldierdisaster)**

**There will be much more to come! Hopefully you like these kids as much as I do =)**

**I believe that the next thing I'll be working on, is a Carter/Bucky story. And to find out who Carter is, check out "Uncle Bucky's (reluctant) Babysitting Service" =)**


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm bored," Mikey sighed, dropping his action figures to the couch.

Liam looked over at his partner-in-crime, "Maybe Daddy can bring us to the park?"

"Too hot," Mikey sighed.

And he was right. It was mid-August and it seemed like the world was melting outside.

Natasha and Kit had taken to complaining about the heat at every chance they could get, until, of course, Steve or Clint appeared with a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

(They won't talk about the time Natasha's pint of Chocolate Peppermint Crunch had a bite taken out of it and Clint had a smudge of chocolate on his face. That was a dark day.)

"Maybe Uncle Tony will bring us for ice cream?" Mikey wondered, thinking about the absurdly expensive and delicious sundaes Tony had treated the boys to at Serendipity's.

Kit and Betty had gone apoplectic when they heard Tony had spent two thousand dollars on sundaes the boy's hadn't finished.

(Tony had waved a hand and grinned, "They're only boys once. And besides, what am I gonna spend my money on? Hellicarriers?")

"Mommy'll get mad if we do that again," Liam sighed, they had been really good sundaes, "'Sides, Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce are 'sperimenting in the lab."

A devilish gleam appeared in Mikey's eyes; the same kind of gleam that often-appeared in Tony or Bruce's eyes when they had an experiment to work on.

Liam crinkled his nose, "What?"

"Daddy always says I can esperiment in the lab!" Mikey grinned, "Let's go!"

Liam scrambled off the couch, following his friend.

"Bye Aunt Pepper!" They chimed running past the red headed woman.

Pepper looked up from the grilled cheese sandwiches she was making, "Hey! Where are you two going?"

"To see Daddy," Mikey supplied.

"And Uncle Tony," Liam added.

Pepper narrowed her eyes, "Okay, but tell one of them to call me when you get there."

The boys nodded and ran out the door, squabbling over who got to hit the button for the elevator.

Pepper laughed, shaking her head, before saying, "JARVIS?"

"Yes, Mrs. Stark?" The AI's accented voice filled the apartment.

"Can you let Tony and Bruce they've got two hurricanes headed their way?"

"Certainly," JARVIS said, and Pepper could've sworn she heard him laugh.

* * *

"Sir, Mrs. Stark would like ..." JARVIS started, but Tony shushed him.

"In a minute JARVIS. Brucey and I are on the verge of genius."

Bruce rolled his eyes, "I don't know if I'd say genius, Tony."

Tony shushed him too, "I am a genius, and so everything I do is genius."

Bruce sighed, "Let's get on with this Tony. I want to see if I can take Mikey swimming or something."

Tony grinned, "Sure, on it Big Guy."

Bruce and Tony worked together silently, mixing and adding chemicals.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Tony held out a vial of purplish liquid to Bruce.

Bruce took it and poured it into the larger mix if chemicals.

"Aha!" Tony shouted, his face falling when nothing happened.

"Something went wrong," Bruce said, sticking his head closer to the mixture.

Tony shoved his head next to Bruce's, "We did EVERYTHING right."

Small orange bubbles began forming on the edge of the mixture.

Tony's eyes narrowed, "Is that?"

Bruce nodded, "GET DOWN!"

Both men hit the floor as the mixture exploded, leaving a thin layer of black powder over everything.

"Cool!"

"Do that again!"

Bruce and Tony sat up, blinking black dust from their eyes.

"Mikey?"

"Liam?"

"I tried to warn you, sir," JARVIS's voice sounded vaguely condescending.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Tony grumbled.

Bruce stood up and brushed as much of the dust from his clothes as possible, "I though you two were hanging out with Aunt Pepper this morning?"

He greeted both boys with hugs and kisses on the head.

Mikey shrugged, "We got bored."

"Yeah," Liam piped up, "We wanted to do 'speriments!"

Tony and Bruce shared a grin.

"Experiments we can do," Tony laughed, "Come on, boys!"

Mikey and Liam roamed the lab for a little bit, touching everything that was guaranteed not to explode.

"Can we make suits?" Mikey asked, gazing at an outdated Iron Man suit with awe.

Tony smiled happily, "Maybe one day, Michelangelo."

Liam hung onto Bruce's hand, "What can we do?"

Bruce thought for a minute, before directing his suggestion to Tony, "Mentos and coke?"

Tony laughed wickedly, "Oh yeah! Mentos and coke!"

The two boys stared back and forth as Bruce and Tony made plans to run out and grab Diet Coke and a dozen rolls of Mentos.

"You have to go out!" Tony said, "I get recognized everywhere."

Bruce shook his head, "That's your fault, Tony!"

"But, if I go out, it'll take three times as long," Tony protested, "You don't get recognized!"

"This isn't fair," Bruce grumbled, but he pulled his wallet out of something sticky and jammed it into his pocket, "Boys, want to come?"

"Yeah!"

"Let's go!"

Bruce took one boy by each hand and led them out of the lab.

"I'll just clean up here," Tony called after them.

"It's not nice to lie, sir," JARVIS said.

Bruce and the boys came back twenty minutes later.

"I have soda!" Mikey shouted as he entered the lab.

"I got the Mentos!" Liam giggled, stepping on the backs of Mikey's sneakers as he walked behind him.

"Nice!" Tony held up his hand, "High five!"

Mikey and Liam took turns slapping Tony's hand before transferring the coke and Mentos to his arms.

"Let's go!" Mikey shouted, climbing up onto a stool near a lab table.

Bruce leaned against the steel table, "Alright guys, first thing. Let's not tell the moms about this."

"How come?" Liam asked, poking at a pile of the black ash.

"Because...we're not supposed to be making a mess," Bruce explained.

"Isn't this your lab?" Mikey asked, "How can Mom be mad if you make a mess here?"

Bruce was silent as Tony cackled, "He has you there!"

Dropping the shopping bags on the table, Tony grinned, "Alright, men, we're undertaking a great experiment today. This could alter all of creation."

"What's creation?" Liam poked Tony's side.

"Uh..." Tony scratched at his goatee; how to explain the concept of creation to a 4-year-old?

He finally settled on "Ask your dad."

Liam shrugged, accepting Tony's response, and turned back to look at the table.

"How do we do this?" Mikey leaned forward and poked at the rolls of Mentos.

Bruce frowned in thought, "Should we just put them straight into the bottle, or should we pour the coke into a bucket?"

Tony looked around the lab, "Each kids gets a bottle and a roll of Mentos. We go from there."

Bruce smiled; this was definitely going to be interesting.

"Okay, unwrap just the ends of the Mentos," Bruce instructed, handing Mikey and Liam a roll of the mint candy.

It was cute to watch the boys carefully peel the wrappers away, tongues poking out in concentration.

"Done!" Mikey held out his unwrapped roll of candy.

"Wait for me!" Liam pouted.

"We're waiting, pal," Tony said.

Liam held to candy up proudly a second later, "Done!"

"Onto the best part," Bruce smiled, twisting the tops off of the bottles of Diet Coke.

"Do we get to drink it?" Liam leaned forward and looked at the dark liquid with wide eyes.

"Yeah…" Mikey breathed, "'Mommy doesn't let me drink coke."

"I know," Bruce ruffled Mikey's hair, "Which is why we're _not_ drinking the coke. You're going to drop the Mentos in it."

Liam lifted his hand to drop the candy into the soda, but Tony caught them before they could hit, "Not yet! Gotta drop them all at once."

"Can we do it now?" Mikey whined.

Bruce and Tony nodded.

Bruce held one bottle of coke, while Tony held the other.

"On your mark, get set, go!" Tony shouted.

The Mentos hit the Diet Coke with an explosion, the likes of which Mikey and Liam had never seen before.

The boys screamed with glee as the sugary drink exploded out of the bottles, covering everything in a two-foot radius.

"AGAIN!" Liam screamed once the soda had fizzled down.

Tony shook his head, spraying drops of coke everywhere, "No way, man. We're covered, and this lab is gonna need a serious cleaning."

Mikey dropped his hands into a puddle of coke, "Can't we do another one? Please?"

He turned to Bruce and widened his eyes and poked out his lower lip in a puppy-dog pout that Natasha had taught both boys.

Bruce shook his head, "Sorry, guys. You heard Uncle Tony. Besides, we have to clean you guys up before the moms come home. They wont be happy about the coke mess."

Liam kicked the table leg, 'What if we show mommy the 'speriment?"

Tony looked slightly scared for a minute. Kit wasn't fond of Liam being around when he and Bruce were tinkering in the lab. The last thing he wanted was her pregnancy hormones to decide he was a bad guy.

He scooped Liam up under the armpits, "Let's bring you to Aunt Pep and she can get a bath started."

Bruce took Mikey by the hand and followed Tony to the elevator.

Tony and Liam were whispering to each other; it sounded like an argument over bath time.

Mikey tugged on Bruce's hand.

"What's up?" the scientist asked, kneeling down next to his son.

Mikey's brown hair was plastered to his forehead with coke, and his green eyes were bright.

"I just wanted to tell you that you're the best daddy. And I wanna do more experiments," Mikey lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Bruce's neck in a hug.

Bruce froze for a minute, shocked by the hug, but then, disregarding the soda that covered both of them, he wrapped his arms around Mikey's back and squeezed.

"You're the best son," he said.

"Uncle Bruce! Mikey! Come on," Liam shouted from the elevator, "We gotta take baths."

* * *

**A/N: The second installment of life in the Avengers Tower is here! **

**I would like to thank Pekenota14 for the prompt - hope you like it ^_^**

**I have a poll up on my page to see what you guys would like Baby Girl Rogers' name to be, so check it out =)**

**And, as always, I'm accepting prompts for this story here and on Tumblr. And I accept general prompts on Tumblr anyways. **


	3. Chapter 3

"He looks pink," Liam said, leaning in Steve's arms to look into the crib.

"He's supposed to be pink," Pepper explained softly, never taking her eyes off of her new son.

"Is he supposed to be all squishy looking?" Mikey asked, standing up on his tiptoes and looking at the new baby.

"He'll grow into that," Tony laughed.

Kit and Natasha were leaning over the other side of the crib, running fingers over the baby's soft little feet.

"I wonder what he'd look like with Tony's beard," Clint whispered, sending Sam into silent hysterics.

"He's so little," Kit sighed, leaning against Steve.

Her husband spoke up next, "Still bigger than Liam when he was born."

Natasha squinted at the baby, getting as close as her 6-months-pregnant belly would allow, "Is it me or does he look like a little redhead?"

Tony nearly knocked her out of the way to get a look.

"What? Red? No!"

In his haste, he missed the smirk Natasha gave the room.

"He has like one hair," Tony finally said, "You can't know if it's red."

Natasha laughed as Pepper scowled at Tony, "What's so bad about red hair? Would it really be awful if he were a redhead?"

Tony attempted to backtrack, "Pep, nothing's wrong with red hair. I love your red hair. Just…he's…. a Stark. We always have dark hair."

Pepper frowned, before a sly smile spread on her face, "Maybe he'll have 12% red hair."

Tony laughed, while everyone else looked around confused.

"What's 12%?" Bucky asked Steve, "Those two always laugh when something hits 12%."

Steve shrugged, "No idea."

"So," Betty interrupted Tony and Pepper's teasing, "You never told us his name."

"Ah, right," Tony grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "His name. Want to do the honors, Pep?"

Pepper gently lifted the baby from his crib, cradling him against her shoulder, "I think you can, Tony."

She kissed the baby's cheeks and rubbed a hand up and down his little back.

"Well, Pep thought to name him after my dad," Tony started, "But seriously? Howard? Too 1940s. Old fashioned."

Steve lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile. Tony shot him a look out of the corner of his eye, "No offence, Capsicle."

"None taken," Steve laughed, adjusting his grip on Liam as the boy leaned forward to get a better look at his "cousin."

"Right, anyway, even though I'm on better terms with Old Howard, I wasn't about to name this guy after him," Tony ran a hand gently over the baby's kicking leg.

Pepper jumped in, "And my relationship with my dad wasn't the best when he died, so I wasn't exactly a fan of naming him Richard."

"I'm bored," Liam grumbled to Steve, thinking he was whispering.

Steve shushed him, and put him on the floor, "Why don't you and Mikey head inside and play a game?"

Liam and Mikey ran out of the nursery, screaming and whooping about something.

Kit blushed, embarrassed, "Sorry about that."

Sam laughed, "They're all gonna have to get used to that kind of shit."

"Exactly!" Clint grinned, "Although, I have a one-up on all of you. I can just turn down the old hearing aid when I don't feel like listening."

Natasha smacked his arm, "Do not even think about turning down your hearing aid when the baby is born and you don't want to listen to the crying."

Clint's eyes widened as Natasha's voice grew more quiet and deadly, 'Got it, Nat. I would never do that. I love you."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. She accepted the kiss and leaned into his side.

Tony cleared his throat, "And now that you've made this not about me…"

Pepper rolled her eyes, whispering to the baby, "Daddy is a narcissistic fool."

The others laughed.

"I would resent that, but it's entirely true," Tony grinned, "And unless you've all decided that you don't want to hear my son's amazingly awesome name, let me finish."

Bruce rolled his eyes, and muttered to Betty, "This is why nothing gets done in the lab."

"So, as I was saying, since neither one of us really like our fathers all that much, I looked to the next best thing," Tony grinned, "Which is why, we'd like to introduce you to Edwin Howard Stark."

"Edwin?" Bucky asked, "Whose name is Edwin?"

A new voice joined in, "Why, sir, I'm honored."

"JARVIS?" Kit asked.

Tony and Pepper nodded.

"This JARVIS is, well, he's basically my butler from when I was growing up in AI form," Tony said, "Edwin Jarvis was…uh…he was pretty much the only one looking out for me."

"And now this JARVIS is watching out for you," Steve laughed, "Although you should listen to him better."

"I have been saying that for years, Captain," JARVIS said, prompting laughter.

"Hey, maybe fatherhood will change me," Tony joked.

JARVIS' voice was wry, "Doubtful, sir."

* * *

**A/N: This one's kind of short, but I needed to add in the Stark baby before I could get to my next one-shot since this is September and my oneshot is October. **

**But anyways, ****enjoy! And i hope you like Baby Eddie's name =)**

**Ooh, also, the poll for Baby Rogers is still up on my page, so go and check it out!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Sir, you have several new social media notifications and quite a few text messages," JARVIS' voice was soft, as per Tony's instructions.

"From who?" Tony asked, bouncing a little to keep three-week-old Eddie from waking up in the carrier that was strapped to his chest.

"There are a few messages from Mrs. Stark -"

"Aw, call her Pepper, JARVIS. You know she hates being called Mrs. Stark," Tony laughed, messing around with the piece of metal in front of him.

"Duly noted, sir," JARVIS continued, "The messages from Pepper are inquiring as to young Eddie's well being."

Tony shook his head and directed his answer to his young son, "Your mom has no faith in me. Thinks I'm going to blow something up with you right here. How dumb does she think I am?"

The infant stirred in the Baby Bjorn and Tony laughed, "Don't answer that."

"What shall I respond, sir?" JARVIS asked.

Tony thought for a minute and then grinned, "Send her a picture of this!"

He wiped his hands on a spare tag and gently lifted Eddie from the fabric sling.

The baby yawned in his sleep and waved his fists in the air as Tony rested him against the piece of the Iron Man suit he had been working on.

"Photograph has been taken, sir," JARVIS responded, and if Tony had really been listening he would have heard the familiar note in the AI's tone that implied that JARVIS through Tony's idea was terrible.

But Tony plowed ahead, as he usually did.

"Write 'Baby's first super suit,'" Tony grinned, holding Eddie against his shoulder and rubbing his back.

"Certainly, sir," JARVIS sighed, sending the picture to Pepper.

"You said something about social media notifications?" Tony remembered a few minutes later, in the middle of giving Eddie a bottle.

The infant reached towards Tony with his little hands, and Tony was so involved in watching his son that he almost missed JARVIS' response.

"Yes, sir. There are quite a few Twitter mentions and several mentions on Instagram as well as Facebook."

"Huh," Tony blew air between his lips, "Well, what's it about?"

"I believe your friend Harley has nominated you for the Ice Bucket Challenge," JARVIS replied.

"Harley?" Tony furrowed his brow, "What the hell's an 'Ice Bucket Challenge'? Get the kid on the phone, would ya?"

"Certainly," JARVIS' voice was replaced with a phone ringing.

Tony burped Eddie and nestled him back in the Baby Bjorn while he waited for Harley to pick up.

"Hello?" The boy -man, Tony had to remind himself- answered.

"Keener! My man, how's MIT treatin' ya?" Tony grinned, even though Harley couldn't see him.

"Mechanic!" Harley's voice immediately perked up, "I've only been here three weeks."

"So?" Tony laughed, "I've made impressions on places in less."

"Yeah, I know," Harley laughed, "But it's cool. I'm having a good time."

"I'm glad," Tony said, "Onto the point of my phone call -"

"What?" Harley interrupted, "You didn't just want to say hi to your favorite person in the world?"

"Yeah, let Pepper hear you say that and you won't be in the world anymore," Tony teased.

"Hey, Aunt Pepper loves me," Harley said, "She even sent me a care package that was waiting for me when I got here."

Tony shrugged, "That sounds like Pep."

Harley yawned on the other end.

"Am I boring you?" Tony deadpanned.

"Nah, no more than usual. I was out late last night," Harley explained.

"Ooh, girls? Booze?" Tony said, before a small noise from JARVIS reminded him that Harley was just 18, "Uh, not that you should be drinking or you know."

Harley burst out laughing, "I was at a robotics club meeting."

Tony felt mildly stupid, "Oh. Kid, I mean this is the nicest way possible, but you're a nerd."

"Says the guy who builds robot suits in his basement," Harley said wryly.

"Hey! Respect the suit!" Tony protested so vehemently Eddie woke up in the sling and let out an ear-splitting screech.

"Is that Eddie?" Harley asked, excited.

"Yeah," Tony said, beginning to pace around the lab, "Say hi to Harley, Ed."

The baby cooed and blew a spit bubble.

Tony relayed this to Harley, much to the teenager's delight.

"Man! I can't wait to meet the kid. Can I come out for Thanksgiving?" Harley asked.

"You're always welcome here," Tony said warmly, "Now, what the hell's an Ice Bucket Challenge?"

Harley cracked up on the other end of the line, "I was wondering when you'd see that."

"JARVIS just brought it to my attention. Now tell me what it is," Tony demanded.

"Basically, you dump a bucket of ice water over your head to raise awareness for ALS, and then you donate money and challenge other people," Harley gave Tony a bare-bones rundown.

"Ice water?" Tony winced, but then brightened, "I can work with that. How much time do I have?"

"24 hours," Harley said, "But I nominated you three days ago, so just do it whenever, I guess."

"Harley, Eddie, I'm developing a very good plan," Tony said, winking down at his son.

"Should I be afraid?" Harley laughed.

"Nah, you're too far away. But certain other people around here should be," Tony grinned wickedly.

"Geez. You're insane. I gotta go. I have class in ten," Harley said.

"Study hard, and don't do anything that I wouldn't do," Tony grinned.

"Short list then," Harley laughed and hung up.

"JARVIS!" Tony shouted, completely unnecessarily.

"Yes, sir?"

"Hold all of my calls, Eddie and I have a plan to work on."

Pulling a tablet out from under a dozen pieces of paper, Tony began scribbling away.

* * *

The next morning, Tony shuffled Pepper up to the landing pad of the Tower.

"It's early," she complained.

"I need your help, Pep! I was challenged," Tony cried, already in the process of yanking his shirt over his head.

"You're challenged alright," the redhead muttered, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

Tony sat cross-legged in the middle of the landing pad, "Okay! Let's get this show on the road."

He leaned over and pressed a button, bringing two of his suits flying over.

Pepper watched as one suit deposited a large bucket of water, ice floating on the top, in front of her.

The other suit positioned itself right in front of Tony and just stopped.

"What's that one doing?" She asked.

"He's filming," Tony pointed at the bucket, "Now get ready. After I nominate my picks, you have to dump that on my head."

Pepper looked at the bucket skeptically, but lifted it up and waited.

Tony grinned and faced that camera, "Hello everyone! I, the infamous Tony Stark, have accepted Harley Keener's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I have also donated."

Pepper raised her eyebrows; good for Tony.

Her husband pointed at the camera, "I challenge the superhero moochers that are living in my Tower to donate and take the challenge."

He was apparently finished speaking, since he crooked a finger at Pepper.

She stepped forward and dumped the water over Tony's head, giggling a little at the shriek that he let out.

Tony shook his head like a dog and spit water from his mouth.

He looked up at Pepper, a smirk on his face, "How was that, Pep?"

She grinned into the camera, "It was a pleasure."

* * *

"4 million hits in less than a day!" Tony crowed, strutting into Bruce and Betty's living room.

Bruce looked up from the vegetables he was slicing, "On what?"

Natasha rolled her eyes from the floor where she was hanging out with her nephews, "His stupid ice bucket challenge. He's been giving us updates on his hits all day."

"Personally, I think it could've used some more flair," Clint supplied from the couch.

The group groaned. Tony was going to go on about it forever.

"Flair? More flair? Where's your video, Barton?" Tony grumbled, snatching a piece of bell pepper from the cutting board.

Clint grinned slyly, "It's in progress."

"Good. It's been almost 24 hours. You people better get moving on videos," Tony said.

Bucky and Steve shared a look.

"We don't do ice," Steve said.

"Yeah, you'll forgive us if we choose not to relive very traumatizing moments in our long lives, right?" Bucky added.

"You can't keep playing that card!" Tony exclaimed, "It's just not fair!"

"Yeah," Sam agreed jokingly, "It's not an excuse to hog all the hot water too!"

Changing the subject, Kit said, "What about Thor? Does he have to do the challenge?"

"He doesn't technically live in the Tower," Betty pointed out, bouncing Eddie around and making faces at him.

"He's still a superhero," Tony said.

"He's also the King of Asgard. Are you really going to make him dump ice water on his head?" Natasha laughed.

"Yes!" Tony pointed at her, "All of you have to do it!"

"Hey! I'm not super!" Kit protested.

Betty agreed, "I'm not either."

"I'm six months pregnant," Natasha said.

Tony narrowed his eyes at her, "Oh, so now you use the baby Hawk as an excuse to get out of things."

Liam jumped to his aunt's defense, "Aunt Nat can't go in cold water! What if my new cousin freezes up like daddy did?"

"Fine! Spider Lady is out. But the rest of you have to do it."

Clint leaned over to Sam, "Who's gonna call Thor and tell him?"

Sam shook his head, "Not gonna be me. I use metal wings to fly."

* * *

Somehow, someway, Tony got Jane and Thor down from Asgard.

"How'd you do it, Stark?" Steve asked as the group watched the Bifrost form.

Tony shrugged, "Told Thor I had a challenge for him. He agreed right away."

"Of course," Steve muttered good naturedly, yanking Liam back by the collar of his shirt before he could touch the shimmering pathway between worlds.

"Fellow Avengers of Earth," Thor boomed, stepping out of the Bifrost and giving the nearest Avenger (Clint) a huge hug.

Jane rested a hand on Thor's shoulder when she saw the bluish tinge to Clint's face, "Too tight, Thor."

Thor dropped Clint to his feet and clapped the archer's shoulder, "My sincere apologies. I forget how weak Midgardians are."

A muscle in Clint's jaw twitched at the unintentional insult, but he shook Thor's hand and said, "Good to see you, man."

Liam and Mikey broke free from their respective fathers' grips and bolted for Thor.

"Uncle Thor!" Liam shouted, "Throw me in the air!"

Thor laughed heartily and lifted Liam under his armpits and tossed him gently into the air. Upon catching the boy, he said, "Young Liam, you have grown a thousand leagues since we last met."

Liam giggled, "I only sawed you when Eddie was borned."

"Yes, but you have grown since," Thor laughed, setting Liam on his feet and lifting Mikey into the air, "Young Michael! Your good father tells me that you are a most intelligent boy."

Mikey grinned at the compliment, "I'm not as smart as Dad or Uncle Tony or any of the rest of you."

Thor's face went stern, "You mustn't say that. You are just as intelligent as you need to be right now! And your Aunt Jane is very pleased with your skills."

Mikey looked over Thor's shoulder at Jane. The scientist nodded, "I definitely am! A third grade reading level? You're going to replace Darcy as my assistant any day now."

Mikey blushed, "I like Darcy."

Betty and Bruce shared a look; girls already?

Once Thor and Jane had greeted everyone, and commented on Eddie's growth and Natasha and Kit's as well, Thor asked about the challenge Tony had.

Later on they all would realize what that gleam in Tony's eyes meant. They would have seen what happened next coming.

But just then, they weren't focused on the big picture.

Tony smiled at them all, "JARVIS? Now."

"Now?" Kit murmured to Steve, who shrugged.

Natasha caught on before the rest of them, shrieking, "STARK! I'LL KILL YOU!" just as gallons of ice water fell onto the group.

Cold, wet, and sputtering, twelve sets of eyes found Tony Stark laughing like a mad man.

"Nominate people!" He shouted.

Natasha lunged at him; Clint's arm around her expanding waist the only thing standing between Tony and certain death.

Liam and Mikey stood, teeth chattering, for a minute, and then exploded in shouts.

"Again!"

"We want more water!"

Pepper, Betty, Kit, and Jane just stared at each other, cold and shocked.

"I do not understand," Thor boomed, shaking water from his hair, "What has just happened?"

"The Ice Bucket Challenge," Steve said, pushing his hair away from his forehead.

"Is this the challenge the man of iron spoke of?" Thor asked, slicking his hair back.

"You bet your shiny hammer it is," Tony grinned, "Think of all the hits this video is going to get."

Bucky grunted, "Think of all the hits you're going to get."

Sam laughed, "Hey, the metal arm of yours isn't gonna short-circuit on us, is it?"

Bucky grinned, "Nah, waterproofed."

Tony clapped his hands, "Again, you all have to pick someone to nominate."

"Can I nominate you again?" Natasha said, her hair hanging in damp strands around her face and her eyes narrowed in a death glare.

"If you must," Tony said, "I wish you'd be a little more creative though."

"I'm soaking wet and cold," Natasha grumbled, "I don't have time for creative. I'm nominating you, Stark."

She tossed her wet hair over her shoulder and stalked back into the Tower.

Clint grinned, "I'll nominate Bobbi, but right now I gotta calm her down."

He ran after his wife, shouting her name and fiddling with his ear.

"Oh, I hope the water didn't hit his hearing aid," Betty said.

Bruce shook his head, "He should be fine. They're too far in his ear to really be damaged."

Tony turned to his wife, "Pep?"

She sighed, "I guess I'll nominate Happy. Can I go dry off now?"

With Tony's blessing she headed back inside.

"I'm not nominating anyone," Bruce said, "I can't perpetuate this."

"Spoilsport," Tony pouted, smiling only when Betty agreed to nominate Fitz and Simmons.

Liam and Mikey whispered to each other, before shouting simultaneously, "We wanna 'minate Carter!"

Bucky grinned at that. And threw in his nomination for Coulson.

Steve nominated Maria Hill and Kit chose her friend, Chris, from high school.

Jane chose Darcy ("Although, she's probably already done this. I swear, that girl spends so much time on social media. Maybe I should nominate Erik? No, he'll never do this. All right, Darcy. I choose Darcy.")

"That one agent we met a while back, what was her name? May?" Sam asked.

"Melinda May," Steve supplied.

"Yeah, I liked her. I'll nominate her," Sam said.

And soon Thor was the last one standing.

"Who's it gonna be, Your Highness?" Tony smirked.

"I think I shall nominate Sif and the Warriors Three. This seems to be a challenge they would enjoy," Thor nodded, solidifying his decision.

"Is this finally over?" Jane asked, leaning into Thor's side when a gust of wind blew.

Tony nodded, "I will personally inform all of your nominations. I think I'm going to start a YouTube channel to put all of these videos up."

He rubbed his hands together and bolted for his lab.

"What was the purpose of this challenge?" Thor asked a minute later, "Was Stark trying to test our resilience to cold temperatures? Because I could have informed him that Asgardians posses a higher tolerance for extreme temperatures."

Jane patted her husband's arm, "We'll explain it over dinner."

"Ah! Might we get your delightful Midgardian coffee as well?"

"Coffee..." Kit sighed.

"Can we get Happy Meals?" Liam and Mikey asked, holding their arms out to Thor for him to carry them.

He obliged and asked, "You need meals to make you happy? I must introduce you to my friend, Volstagg. He would enjoy that mightily."

Kit linked arms with Steve and Bucky, giggling.

They both looked down at her.

Steve asked, "What are you laughing about?"

"Just...this," she said, "I have kids with Captain America. My son is hanging out with Thor. I just had ice water dumped on me by Iron Man. Life is funny."

* * *

**A/N: I had such a blast writing this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Lots of different call backs to other Marvel characters in this one. Lots of fun Avenger family moments. **

**I'm not overly thrilled with the ending, but I really couldn't think of any other way to finish it. So please, drop me some feedback and let me know what you think =)**

**I'm going to be working on the last chapter to "The Start of an Age" next. I start school on Tuesday, so I'm no guaranteeing a chapter before then, since I'm moving ****back home on Sunday. But I'll try my hardest. **

**As always, my inboxes are always open to prompts and discussion. **

**Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone! Be safe and have fun! (I know I'm going to ;D )**


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